The new data protection agreement between the European Union and the United States is in force

Three years after the end of Privacy Shield, a new data protection agreement between the European Union and the United States of America has entered into force. The United States has now ensured an appropriate level of protection for personal data that will be transferred from the European Union to companies in America. This was announced by the European Union Commission on Monday in Brussels.

The new regulation introduces binding guarantees to address concerns previously expressed by the European Court of Justice (ECJ).

The European Court of Justice overturned the Privacy Shield for data transfers from Europe across the Atlantic in July 2020. This is on the grounds that the level of data protection in the United States does not comply with EU standards.

Above all, the justices criticized the long-term access of US intelligence services to Europeans’ data. For companies, the ECJ ruling has created a great deal of legal uncertainty when transferring data between the USA and the EU. Privacy Shield was created in 2016 after the European Court of Justice overturned the earlier Safe Harbor regulation.

In the future, US secret services may only access the data if it is necessary and proportionate, according to the EU Commission. In addition, a data protection review tribunal will be set up. “The new EU-US data protection framework will ensure safe data flows for Europeans and create legal certainty for businesses on both sides of the Atlantic.” So EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.